Heeley MP Meg Munn recently visited Lembas, a speciality vegetarian and wholefood business as part of Fairtrade Fortnight. Based in Heeley, Lembas has been operating from its current site for over 4 years but has traded since 1983 when it started off as a bakery. The team at Lembas have branched out into providing a number of products focussed around ethical trading.

Meg discussed with Julian Grant, one of the 16 members of staff that Lembas employ, the importance of Fairtrade to their company, and how vital it is to the people that grow the products. Trading in a fair way means that companies must pay sustainable prices for goods to those who grow or produce them. Working in this manner directly tackles the long-running issue of unfairness in trading which discriminates against the poorest producers.

The UK is one of the fastest growing Fairtrade economies in the world, particularly with products such as fruit, vegetables, coffee, chocolate and cotton. In 2009, the Fairtrade market in the UK was worth £800 million a year, a 12% increase on 2008 and it is still on the rise.

Meg said:

“If we continue to show our support to those in need by paying a fair price for a fair product then not only will the economies of those countries grow and flourish but poverty will be reduced. “